Chapter 49

Sang Yin, who had been navigating the officialdom for so many years, encountered such a situation for the first time.

He silently lowered his head and made way for Xie Yun. One of his colleagues was still tugging at his sleeve, probably hinting that he should say hello.

Say hello? What a joke.

He coldly withdrew his sleeve, stepped back further, and lowered his head even more fiercely, wishing he could disappear on the spot. If he had known earlier, he would have been more tactful. But Xie Yun usually dealt with a myriad of affairs and didn’t seem like someone who would be bothered by such things, right?

There were quite a few rumors about him, but most people didn’t believe them, and Xie Yun generally ignored them. He probably wouldn’t care this time either, right?

He had boasted for so many years without making any mistakes. Losing face this time was a small matter, but if Xie Yun held a grudge against him, it would be disastrous.

Sang Yin sadly thought that if Xie Yun really minded, he could only let his daughter beg him to spare him. After all, this man could already take his daughter’s earrings. Who knew what he was plotting in his heart?

Mainly because there were no signs from Yang Wenchuan’s side yet, so it was better to be cautious for now.

If Yang Wenchuan really took a liking to Sang Yao and wanted to marry her, who would want to be a concubine when they could be the wife of the top scholar?

Although he wanted Sang Yao to marry someone as prestigious and powerful as Xie Yun and didn’t want his daughter to marry far away, if it was Yang Wenchuan, it seemed fine too.

Yang Wenchuan came from a scholarly family, and it was said that he had no wives or concubines, was very modest, and most importantly, his gaze was pure, definitely different from the ominous aura around Lu Ting.

The atmosphere was tense as Xie Yun walked over slowly.

Sang Yin kept his head down, seeing the man’s dark robe. He prayed in his heart for him to leave quickly, but then he saw those black boots stop in front of him.

Sang Yin’s face was bitter, but he forced a smile and raised his head amiably, saying, “Xie Tongzheng, you haven’t left yet.”

Xie Yan softly said, “Mr. Sang hasn’t left yet, has he?”

Hmm, his tone sounds okay.

Didn’t he hear?

Sang Yin explained quietly, “He’s waiting with them. It’s just polite conversation, nothing serious.”

Xie Yan nodded in understanding and said, “I see. I won’t disturb you then.”

Seemingly having not heard, just as Sang Yin breathed a sigh of relief, Xie Yan added, “But in the future, if there’s a chance, I’d like Mr. Sang to explain in detail how I’ve troubled you.”

After saying this, he strode away from Sang Yin.

The morning breeze was cool, and Jing Lian followed silently behind Xie Yan, feeling very disagreeable with what Sang Yin had just said. It was utter nonsense!

What’s Yang Wenchuan? Can he compare to his master even by a hair? It’s really laughable. Even if Yang Wenchuan worked hard for another ten years, he couldn’t compare to his master.

Although his master had a bad temper, was heartless, lacked empathy, was cold and ruthless, had a sharp tongue, didn’t understand the ways of the world, didn’t listen to advice, liked to criticize others for no reason, didn’t let him rest, and often scolded people for many things, there was only his master in this world who was worthy of Miss Sang.

Ahead, Sang Yao was still walking with Yang Wenchuan. Sang Yao’s height reached Yang Wenchuan’s shoulder, and they looked very harmonious, chatting and laughing.

As a man himself, Jing Lian could see from a glance that something was off about Yang Wenchuan’s expression. Jing Lian was so jealous that his eyes were almost bleeding, yet his master could remain composed even in this situation.

The two of them quickened their pace and soon caught up with Yang Wenchuan and Sang Yao, who were walking slowly ahead. Jing Lian kept his head down, pretending not to see anything.

Planning to pass by the pitiful master and his master quietly, but because Xie Yan and Yang Wenchuan were not far apart in rank and seniority, Yang Wenchuan had to greet Xie Yan. Yang Wenchuan slowed down and said, “Mr. Xie.”

Sang Yao also looked at Xie Yan with Yang Wenchuan. The man was dressed in a straight long robe, with a handsome demeanor. He made a soft sound of acknowledgment, not even looking at Sang Yao.

After a moment, the man spoke softly again, “By the way, Mr. Yang, your teacher seemed to be looking for you earlier.”

Yang Wenchuan was surprised for a moment, then bowed and said, “Thank you for the reminder, sir.”

He then turned to Sang Yao and said, “I’ll come find you later, Yao Yao.”

Sang Yao made a sound of agreement and said, “You don’t need to worry about me.”

Anyway, they would arrive in half a day. If they really needed to perform the sacrifice, they wouldn’t need her. She just needed to find a place to rest. This trip was purely for her to fish in troubled waters.

Yang Wenchuan thought it was already good enough to greet her on the road.

Xie Yan stood aside, not looking around, quietly listening to the reluctant farewells of the two.

Yang Wenchuan’s teacher was Chen Ke, and Xie Yan had always been friendly with Chen Ke. Since he had said so, Yang Wenchuan had no reason to refuse. After Yang Wenchuan left, the situation changed subtly.

Before Jing Lian could react, the person who had been walking side by side with Sang Yao became Xie Yun. Sang Yao looked up at him, but the man looked straight ahead, showing no intention of speaking to her.

Sang Yao was already used to his appearance. She took the initiative to speak, whispering, “…Did Mr. Chen say anything else to you this morning?”

Xie Yun asked, “Like what?”

Of course, it was about that.

Sang Yao suspected that he was asking knowingly. She looked around and, seeing that no one seemed to be paying attention to them, leaned her head towards Xie Yun and whispered, “It’s about what happened last night.”

Jing Lian behind them silently perked up his ears. Something happened last night? Was there something last night?

Xie Yun didn’t care at all. He said, “He asked.”

Sang Yao held her breath. “What did he ask you?”

Xie Yun recalled Chen Ke’s hesitant and earnest words from this morning and replied truthfully, “He asked why we were so impatient, unable to endure even these three days.”

Chen Ke hadn’t expected Xie Yun to become so crazy once he had made up his mind. This kind of sacrificial activity was always dangerous. Xie Yan held a high position and was the emperor’s right-hand man. It was not something he usually did on the road.

He sincerely advised him for a long time, saying that young people should know how to control themselves.

Sang Yao remained silent for a long time.

Wasn’t this the content she had silently criticized Rong Yan and Ming Rong for? But they were really having an affair, while between her and Xie Yun, there was nothing but innocence! Thinking of this, Sang Yao rigorously added that besides kissing, hugging, and patting each other on the butt, there was nothing else.

Her face started to get uncontrollably hot. She asked, “Did you explain it clearly then?”

Xie Yan said, “What’s there to explain?”

“How did you answer?”

Xie Yan said lightly, “I agreed.”

Only by agreeing would Chen Ke stop nagging in his ear, a permanent solution. Sang Yao didn’t really understand what Xie Yan meant. Wasn’t he admitting what happened last night?

She was speechless.

After a moment, knowing that it was pointless to argue with Xie Yun at this point, Sang Yao held her breath and asked, “Does he know who I am?”

Xie Yan replied, “He doesn’t know.”

Sang Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she heard the man continue, “I don’t know if he knows or not.”

Sang Yao pursed her lips, feeling unhappy. She whispered, “You’re so annoying. Can’t you speak clearly?” Xie Yun finally glanced at her and said, “Unfortunately, your not-annoying brother Achuan is too busy to talk to you right now.” Sang Yao had only called him “Brother Achuan” once, but this man always used it to mock her, which annoyed her even more. She turned her head away, not wanting to talk to him anymore.

However, Sang Yao’s anger came and went quickly. After a while, she suddenly remembered what happened tonight with Rong Yan, and she couldn’t help but want to share it with Xie Yun.

Xie Yan was the only one she could share this with. He seemed to be somewhat familiar with the Crown Prince, and she didn’t know if he had talked to Lu Li about this.

After hesitating for a long time, Sang Yao silently took two steps toward Xie Yan, about to speak to him, when the familiar, deep voice rang in her ears again.

“Miss Sang!”

Sang Yao was startled. She looked up and saw Lu Li and Rong Yan standing together. Lu Li greeted Sang Yao and then said to Xie Yan, “Xu Bai, why are you here? Gu Ke has been looking for you for a long time.”

Rong Yan glanced at Xie Yun, then looked at Sang Yao standing beside him, and asked, “So Miss Sang knows Mr. Xie?”

Feeling uncomfortable with so many people around, especially with Rong Yan, who always made her feel scared, Sang Yao shook her head and said, “…We’ve met a few times.”

Xie Yan did not deny it either.

While Lu Li was talking to Xie Yun, Rong Yan’s gaze seemed to linger on Sang Yao’s body.

Whether it was an illusion or not, he always felt that this woman was a little afraid of him. Not only was she afraid, but she also deliberately avoided his gaze when she met it, just like this morning.

What was even more strange was that he had casually asked and found out that Sang Yao hadn’t even gone to the main hall yesterday.

So where had she gone?

Since she didn’t need to go to the main hall, why was she so easily driven away by Ming Rong? This little girl looked so soft, was she really so easy to talk to?

Letting her leave when told, without even considering where she would stay at night.

At this moment, the group had already walked out of the temple. Sang Yao always remembered Xie Yan’s words, trying not to stay with Rong Yan for too long. She found an opportunity and left directly with an excuse.

She walked straight to the carriage she had ridden in yesterday and got in.

Because the Temple of Earth in the north suburbs was not particularly far away, the group traveled for the whole afternoon and arrived at the place.

Because they had already calculated the time, even if they had arrived, they would have to wait overnight and start precisely at the hour of the Chen in the early morning.

But all of this had nothing to do with Sang Yao.

There were many people in this group. She was neither a princess nor a daughter of a prestigious family. She was the most inconspicuous among them.

She got off the carriage, praying in her heart that she wouldn’t share a room with Ming Rong this time.

It seemed that her prayer was heard, but Heaven didn’t want to grant her wish. When she was led into the room by the palace maid, Ming Rong was already inside.

Ming Rong was sitting lazily on a chair, sipping tea delicately. When she entered, she slowly lifted her eyelids to glance at her and said, “Miss Sang, it’s you again.”

Sang Yao was already very tired in her heart.

She avoided her gaze, made a sound of acknowledgment, and said, “…Maybe the roster was fixed all the way.” Ming Rong made a sound of agreement, quite approving.

She put down the teacup, adjusted her clothes, and her gaze fell back on her.

She said, “Miss Sang, I have been puzzled about something for a long time.”

Sang Yao was stunned for a moment and said, “Please, go ahead.”

Ming Rong said, “You didn’t go to the main hall last night. Where did you go?”